A Sobering PSA from Gary Sinise

From the Jawa Report

Christmas Comes Early to Gold Star Family

Jim Hoft over at Gateway Pundit had this video that was too good not to share.
(Better break out the hankies first!)

As a Veteran, "Do You Feel Stressed?"

Seems like an innocuous enough question in these uncertain economic times. If you are unemployed or ill, there's a chance you might feel even more stress than you might consider to be normal.

So, imagine you are a veteran, seeking some kind of medical treatment or a check up, and the VA asks you three questions:

1. Do you feel stressed?
2. Do you feel threatened?
3. Do you feel like doing harm to someone?

Wait! What??? Do I feel like what? Why would anyone believe that these questions need to be asked of every veteran? Is this akin to putting them on a watch list, along with Tea Party members and anti-abortion protesters? Apparently so, because if you answered "Yes" to any of those questions, you could lose your Second Amendment rights.

One veteran, a Vietnam Vet and retired Police Officer according to Veterans Today:

The nurse then informed me, that if I had answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions, I would have lost my concealed carry permit as it would have gone into my medical records and the VA would have reported it to Homeland Security.

Question three? Maybe! Although it is possible to feel like doing something to someone without ever acting on it.

Question two? Threatened by unemployment, a poor housing market, foreclosure...is the implication that a veteran who feels "threatened" is a greater danger to the Republic or himself than anyone else?

But, question one is off the charts. Everyone feels stress at one point or another, to one extent or another. Stress can get you out of bed in the morning. Stress may make you study a little harder for an exam or a promotion. Going to a VA hospital might cause you stress. Being ill and having to go to a VA hospital might cause even more stress. To say that a "yes" answer on this question is sufficient to deprive you of your Constitutional rights under the Second Amendment, just because you might be more proficient in the use of that firearm than your next door neighbor, is gun control under another name.


This is a very disturbing report, if corroborated. And yet, not at all inconsistent with the oxymoronic "Obama Justice" department. It is a good thing to look out for the mental health of veterans. It should not, however, necessitate the need to Mirandize them before they receive medical attention.

More at John Lott

Government Requires an Arm and a Leg for Taxes

Artificial ones, that is!

Model not included
Wounded Warriors Face New Tax This Independence Day

As the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day with parades and barbecues, America’s veterans face a new tax on prosthetic limbs and other vital medical devices.

The health care overhaul passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year contains a new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, and wheelchairs. This tax, which its proponents claim will raise $20 billion over the next ten years, contains no exemption for the nation’s 22 million veterans. In fact, Senate Democrats specifically refused to exempt veterans from the tax.

Wow. You'd think a grateful nation could at least exempt the veterans who needed the prosthetic because they were injured while serving their country! Apparently, the Democrats in the Obama administration are less than grateful!

“On March 24, Senate Democrats had the opportunity to exempt our veterans from Obamacare’s new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs. But 54 Democrats voted against the measure. They chose to side with the tax-and-spend crowd in Washington over our wounded warriors,”said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “This is one of the many reasons Harry Reid and the Democrats did not want Americans to read the 2,500 page health care bill before it was passed.”

As we get ready to contemplate the birth of our nation this July 4th, many of us will stop to thank and honor the brave men at Valley Forge and their brothers at Normandy and Iwo Jima, and the men who today wear body armor in 130 degree heat so that this nation could be born, survive and be a beacon for democracy around the world. Perhaps, if someone more grateful were to take the place of these louts in Congress in November, some of the mischief could be undone?

H/T Rob Port

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel

Happy V-E Day!

Sixty five years ago in 1945, on this day, the Allies accepted the formal surrender of Germany's Third Reich.
If you know a WWII vet, thank him today!